Saborio, Arrieta and Ruiz among players called up by Costa Rica for World Cup qualifiying

Real Salt Lake’s Alvaro Saborio and the Columbus Crew’s Jairo Arrieta will join Fulham standout Bryan Ruiz on the Costa Rican national Team squad called up for this month’s CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers.

The team that will take on the United States in Denver on March 22nd was unveiled on Monday and there were few major surprises in the mix. Among the more surprising inclusions was New York Red Bulls defender Roy Miller, who is coming off one of the worst performances of his career on Sunday.

What do you think of the team? Think Costa Rica can beat the United States with this group, or do you still see the U.S. overcoming injuries and winning a very important match? Does seeing Miller’s name on the roster give you a sense of relief?

Johnson might be injured and unavailable for this match, and you know Jurgen has to play his Germericans in midfield Williams and Jones. He could pull a different trick this time around. Seems solid, but you don’t know until the game is played. Gonzalez looked unimpressive in the game in Honduras as did Cameron and Chandler. I might give them the benefit of the doubt with it being so very hot in San Pedro Sula.

Dempsey and F. Johnson are questionable due to injury. No way does at least one of Wiliams or Jones not start. Boca will likely find a spot on the back line, for his experience, not his speed. Shea has not been impressive at Stoke (yet), I doubt we will see him, he is young and needs to work his way into Stokes’ lineup, being called back for a game he likely won’t play in is questionable.

Costa Rica has a chance to beat the Mericans. Most CONCACAF teams are tricky and clever with the ball. Not to mention the ref will likely make some dubious calls. The game is 50-50 no favorites, anybody can win this match. Although I’d change my mind if Roy Miller starts for Costa Rica. He is prone to make a big time mistake, at least from what I’ve seen when he plays for the New Jersey Red Bulls.

Esteban is a very athletic GK who makes highlight reel saves. He is also prone to being out of position, giving away easy goals(Remind y’all of anybody?). Also, he’s seems to have regressed from last season. AZ’s absolute shambles in the CB pairing(they benched Reijnen for the 19 year old Lam, who looked all of 19 on Saturday{he was at fault for ADO’s gaol, and was left flat-footed at least twice more}) since Niklas Moisander left in the fall window to Ajax, makes it a very understandable decision.

In Esteban’s defense, he looked much better when AZ had a stable CB pairing last season. Which is why, alhough he only played a few matches for AZ this year, I would consider Niklas Moisander to be AZ’s MVP this season.

Yes, he kicked the “fan” after being punched by him and he was given a red card for it, Verbeek pulled the team, essentially forfeiting the match. The red was later rescinded and his ban canceled after it was determined he reacted to extreme provocation. AZ won the rematch.

Only 2 in England and 1 in Spain, all the rest are second tier leagues like Norway and Denmark. This should indicate we have more talent, but the better players in a weaker league can still be better than average players in a better league. Looking forward to the match! Go USA!!

When you look at their roster and compare their players’ resumes with that of the US team, it seems to me that only 3 Ticos–Ruiz, Saborio, and Campbell, would be good enough to make the US roster. How is it the US doesn’t do better against teams with inferior players? They better win this one.